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Ultimate Spring Clean Up Guide

Did winter cause problems to your lawn or damage a few bushes and trees? Spring is the right time to clean up your yard and prepare it for the growing season. This ultimate guide will lead you through every step of the process to help ensure a beautiful lawn and garden this summer.

Prune Trees, Shrubs and Other Perennials

Heavy snow storms, high winds and frigid temperatures can damage or kill branches. Prune these back to the live stems to improve the plant’s appearance.

Trim overgrown evergreens back to a manageable size.

Prune shrubs that flower in the summer before their buds swell, but wait to prune spring bloomers until their flowers have dissipated.

Cut back flowering perennials to 4 or 5 inches and ornamental grasses to 2 or 3 inches so new growth can shoot up.

Prep Your Flower Beds

Before you plant any new annuals, rake out fallen leaves and dead foliage to prevent smothering plants and spreading disease.

Remove existing mulch to set the stage for a new layer after you complete your spring planting.

Fasten loose drip irrigation lines with pins.

Tamp down heaved plants with your foot or replant them with a shovel.

Spread pelletized fertilizer on the soil’s surface so rain can sink the nutrients into the ground.

Fertilize bulbs as soon as they flower to extend their bloom time and feed next season’s growth.

Start a Compost Pile

Pruned branches, last year’s mulch and flower bed debris could form the foundation of a compost pile. A simple 3-foot by 3-foot corral made of wire fencing is the perfect place to store a compost pile.

Be sure to shred leaves and branches before adding them to the pile to accelerate decomposition. You can also add bagged compost to the starter pile to speed up the process.

Keep the pile moist and turn it with a pitchfork every two weeks to aerate the compost.

Avoid putting weeds in your compost pile since these have a tendency to sprout, which is undesirable.

Care for Your Lawn

Rake the lawn with a thatcher or rake.

Aerate the soil with either a manual or power aerator. Immediately following, spread a lay of peat moss over the lawn with a rake.

Check the turf for dead spots caused by salt, plows or disease and seed these areas once forsythia starts blooming in your region.

Clean Up Hardscape Surfaces

Return escaped gravel to its place with a shovel or rake. Fill in depressions with more gravel.

Remove pavers that have heaved from the freeze-thaw cycle. Replenish the base material and set the pavers back in place.

Remove leaf stains, dust and leftover debris from patios and walkways with a pressure washer set on low.

Spruce Up Fences and Trellises

Check for wobbly fence posts and replace them as needed.

Patch rotted sections of fence with wood epoxy. If any pickets or lattices have completely rotted, replace them.

Scrub wood structures clean with a solution of one part liquid soap, eight parts bleach and 32 parts water.

Scrape off old paint, sand the surface, and repaint or stain the wood to revitalize your yard.

If you need help cleaning up your yard this spring, please contact The Grounds Guys®. We can complete everything on this list – and anything else you want us to tackle – so you don’t have slave over the work yourself.

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This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation
of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only.
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This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation
of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only.
Currently, the following states regulate the offer and sale of franchises:
California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota,
New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia,
Washington, and Wisconsin. If you are a resident of or want to locate
a franchise in one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise
unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration
and disclosure requirements in your state.